THE DISCIPLINE & GRIEVANCE POCKETBOOK By Ruth Sangale Drawings by Phil Hailstone “This book offers sound advice, clear solutions and practical step by step instructions for dealing with inevitable employee issues. A must-have book for any business that employs people.” Tamsen Garrie, Network Director, 4Networking Ltd “Really captures the essential issues around discipline and grievance and guides the reader in such a way as to keep the actions very practical. The case studies are a great addition and demonstrate how the processes work in practice. A must for all managers of people!” Louise Punter, Chief Executive, Surrey Chamber of Commerce
Transcript
THEDISCIPLINE & GRIEVANCEPOCKETBOOKBy Ruth Sangale Drawings by Phil Hailstone
“This book offers sound advice, clear solutions and practical step by step instructions for dealing with inevitable employee issues. A must-have book for any business thatemploys people.”Tamsen Garrie, Network Director, 4Networking Ltd
“Really captures the essential issues around discipline and grievance and guides thereader in such a way as to keep the actions very practical. The case studies are a greataddition and demonstrate how the processes work in practice. A must for all managers of people!”Louise Punter, Chief Executive, Surrey Chamber of Commerce
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 5Managing people responsibly, what areformal staff issues?, discipline vs grievance,the importance of handling issues effectively
CAUSES OF STAFF ISSUES 11Feeling undervalued, poor communication,lack of training & career progression,poorwork-life balance, poor management
PREVENTION IS BETTER 39THAN A COURT CASEFour key ingredients for prevention: clarity, feedback, reward & recognition, flexibility, prevention checklist
INFORMAL RESOLUTION 47& MEDIATIONLegislation changes, what is mediation?, what happens in mediation, when to use it,benefits, informal resolution
MANAGING THE DISCIPLINARY 57PROCEDUREWhy have disciplinary procedures?, five rulesof natural justice, how to make procedureseffective, what to have rules about, grossmisconduct, model disciplinary procedure,five stages of the disciplinary process, what to consider before deciding, exampledisciplinary policy, the disciplinary interview,legal checklist
DISMISSAL 79Unfair dismissal, fair dismissal, some othersubstantial reason, dismissal interview
MANAGING GRIEVANCES 87What is a grievance?, typical grievancecomplaints, the grievance procedure,grievances against other employees,grievance after leaving employment,example grievance procedure, legal checklist
CASE STUDIES & 105PRACTICAL TOOLSCase study 1 – disciplinary, case study 2 – grievance, standard letters, quick reference flow charts
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HANDLING TYPICAL STAFF PROBLEMS
THREE BEHAVIOURS
Whatever the cause, when staff are unhappy, demotivated, or out of their depth, it canoften manifest itself in three typical behaviours:
These need prompt attention toavoid further problems. Let’slook at how you deal with eachof these issues.
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HANDLING TYPICAL STAFF PROBLEMS
POOR PERFORMANCE
Start by clarifying what good performance looks like in your organisation and it becomeseasier and fairer to identify poor performance. Three ingredients are necessary in orderfor your employees to perform in the way you expect:
● A clear set of responsibilities and standard of performance described in terms ofoutput, targets and other tangible results
● Clear objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound(SMART)
● Regular reviews to discuss whether or not they are meeting this standard
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HANDLING TYPICAL STAFF PROBLEMS
POOR PERFORMANCE
If you have identified that an employee is performingpoorly, you need to establish whether it is because oflack of commitment or lack of ability.
‘I will not’ is evident if the employee hasperformed satisfactorily in the past and is therefore capable of doingthe work, but something has made them change, eg thearrival of a new manager.
‘I cannot’ is when the individual does nothave the skills through lack of training or capability.
Each one needs to be addressed differently.
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POOR PERFORMANCE – CANNOT
If the issue is of capability (‘I cannot’) there are four steps to follow:
1. Review: identify the key areas where the person is under-performing; be specificwith examples.
2. Reason: clarify why, and what support and training are required.
3. Agree: set a time to provide this support, clarify expected improvements andmonitor regularly.
4. Consequences: if performance has still not improved after these actions have beentaken, consider redeployment to another role.
All the above steps should be in the form of joint discussions at meetings with writtenconfirmation of what has been agreed.
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HANDLING TYPICAL STAFF PROBLEMS
POOR PERFORMANCE – CANNOT
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A to Z Security provides security
staff to different customers around
the country. They received a
written complaint from a customer
about one of their staff, Jaya,
finding fault with certain aspects of
her performance. A to Z made some
enquiries to find out exactly where
the problems lay. It turned out that
Jaya was not assertive enough in
dealing with the public and could
not use the security equipment
properly, even after training.
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POOR PERFORMANCE – CANNOTPPP
Case Study
Jaya’s line manager invited her to a meeting, indicating that there was a problem with her
performance. When they met:
1. They went through the areas where she was under-performing.
2. Her manager asked her for explanations. It turned out Jaya had received very little training
on the system and didn’t feel confident dealing with the public.
3. They agreed that training would be organised to address both aspects and that they would
have a review meeting in a month’s time.
4. After a month, Jaya’s performance had improved significantly so she was able to continue
in her role.
5. Had she not improved, the manager would then have had to invite her to a formal meeting
to find out why, and agree any further support. At this point it would also be made clear
that lack of further improvement could lead to dismissal on the grounds of capability.
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HANDLING TYPICAL STAFF PROBLEMS
POOR PERFORMANCE – WILL NOT
If the issue is of commitment (‘I will not’) it is less straightforward.
There could be several reasons why someone is not committed to performing to a higherstandard. You need to try to find out what is behind this. If the person will not co-operateand you are unable to get to the bottom of the reasons for poor performance, you canaddress lack of commitment in the same way as capability.
If there is no improvement after you have been through all the four steps, then thedisciplinary process can be used to handle poor performance. We look at this in moredetail later in the book.
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HANDLING TYPICAL STAFF PROBLEMS
POOR ATTENDANCE
As before, first you need to be clear what constitutes poor attendance, so that it is easyto spot and you can then apply a consistent standard. A good method is to establish theaverage absence rate for the company and use that as the standard.
FORMULA – Take thetotal number of days’sickness absence in 12months and divide it bythe number ofemployees to get theaverage number of days’absence per employee.
So if, on average, employees are absent for three days a year then anything more thanthat could be considered poor attendance and trigger a more formal procedure formanaging the absence.
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EXAMPLE
Number of staff = 100 Total number of days off in 12 months = 300Average number of days per person = 300 ÷ 100
3 days
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HANDLING TYPICAL STAFF PROBLEMS
POOR ATTENDANCE
Key reasons for poor attendance are:
1. Genuine ill health – physical or stress-related.
2. Lack of motivation – no longerinterested, perhaps because ofpoor relationships at work, lowpay, or personal problems.
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HANDLING TYPICAL STAFF PROBLEMS
POOR ATTENDANCE
If the reason for the poor attendance is ill health, you can follow the five step procedure,as described below:
1. Meet – to carry out an investigatory meeting, highlighting the number of days ofabsence and the reasons behind them.
2. Report – gain access to a medical report. Never try to guess about a medicalcondition; let the professionals inform you.
3. Adjust – meet again, when you have the medical report and discuss and agreeadjustments to the role and work environment as required – these are normallyrecommendations from the doctor or the individual.
4. Monitor – monitor closely to see if there is an improvement and agree a date toreview the situation.
5. Seek specialist help – use an occupational health specialist if necessary.
Managing genuine ill health can be difficult and more details can be found in theAbsence Management Pocketbook.
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HANDLING TYPICAL STAFF PROBLEMS
POOR ATTENDANCE
If you have established that the poor attendance is not because of ill health, but relatesto lack of motivation, then you can use the disciplinary process to address it. Before youdo this, however, give the individual the opportunity to improve by doing the following:
● Review – meet with them and go through their absence record
● Reason – find out why they have more absence than average
● Agree – set a new standard going forward and monitor it for 3-6 months
● Consequences – indicate that lack of improvement will lead to disciplinary action
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About the Author
Ruth Sangale BSc MCIPDRuth runs her own HR outsourcing service, The HR Dept Ltd. She has over 15 years’ HR experience in a range of industries in both large and SME organisations. Ruth has worked at senior level as an HR generalist gaining a wealth of knowledge and experience in recruitment, employee relations, change management, HR policy and training. Ruth is passionate about enabling people to get the most out of their work. She believes that providing employers with support, information and guidance to get the best out of their staff, can contribute to a company's continued success.
